Oil-burning apparatus



Nov. 17!I 1925- A. H. BALLARD on. BURNING APPARATUS Filed Feb. l, 1923 Patented Nov. 17,' 1925.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE. f

- ARTHUR n. BALLARD, or Bos'roN, MAssAcTrUsE'rTs, AssIGNor. To BALLARD oIL.

BURNING EQUIPMENT COMPANY, OF BOSTON', MASSAO`HUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

.Application 1ed-February-1, 1.923. Serial No. 616,401.

To all whomA it may cof/wem.'

Be it known that I. ARTHUR H. BALLARD, a citizen o f the United States, and a resident of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Oil-Burning Apparatus, of which the lfollowing description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing .i like parts. Y l

This invention' relates to `oil burning apparatus and more particularly to controlling devices for automatically regulating the fuel supply.

' The invention will be best understood by reference to the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying illustration of one specific embodiment thereof, while its scope will be more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,-

- Fig. 1 isa front elevation of an apparatus l embodying one form of" the invention, the electrical devices and connections, for sake of simplicity, being shown more or less dial grammatically;

Fig. 2 is a sectional detail in elevation on the line 2- 2 in Fig. 1 -showing the air `.preissure control for the oil supply valve;

Fig. 3 is a sctionalL plan view on'theline 3-3 in Fig. 1 of the burner and pilot light.

Referring to the drawings and to the embodiment of the invention there illustrated,

' 3 shownv as provided with a fuel nozzle 113.

"(see Fig. 3) connected to the oil supply pipe 13, the nozzle being surrounded by an 50 annular chamber -15 which Vcommunicates with an air supply.\pipe-17'. The air and oil, both under pressure, are Idelivered to a mixing chamber 19 whence they Y pass through the perforated head 21! to a second I have shown the same applied to'a steamV mixing chamber 23 and thence through the orifice 25 into the fire or combustion cham-v ber of the boiler through the opening 9 where they are burned. A constantly burning pilot" light 27 fed by the gas sup ly pipe 29 /is located just infront of the burnerv 7 `so as to i ite the fuel. as soonJ as thesupply of the atter is turned on.

Oil' is supplied to the pipe` 13 from thel oil tank 31 from which itis drawn through the pipe 33 by means of the gear vpump 35 or other pumping device. The oil may be supplied directly to the pipe 13 and burner 7 under the pressure of the gear pump 35, but in order to best cooperate with the con# trol devices herein'provided and lto aford an oil supply under a constant head o r presv sure, itis irst conveyed through the pipe u36 vto the supply tank 37 and thence to the pipe 13, the tank 37 bein suiiciently elevated lto provide the desir head. v An overflowv pipe 38-carries any surplus of ,oil back` to' the oil tank 31.

Anelectric motor 39.is herein-provided 43 to feed air under pressure to the airI supply pipe 17. The motor l 39 is automatical y started and. stopped by regulating devices, hereinafter described, to feed or supply air and oil under pressure' as re-. lquired' through the `respective supply, pipes 13 and`17. A pressuregauge 47 is provided in the air supply pipe, and in the oil pipe 13 also a needle valve 49 to regulate the near lthe burner there may beprovided 'acheck rate of oil How. -In the air pipe 17 valve '51so arranged as toper'mit the free l:passageof air to the burner but preventing. up into the .air pipe, should' the burner' become clogged.

oil from backing In order to prevent thesupply of oil to I I vided in the oil supply pipe 13 an oil cut# 4theburner, except when airunder an adelooI off' valve adapted to' be operated when the* lever 55 is lowered to cut o' the supply of.

oil. Thisvalve is so arranged that itl closes 'whenever the .pressure intlieair supply -pipe drops below a .predetermined amount,.and it also provides` for -adequate air supply under pressure at the lrm'rnernoz'- i' 55 cut-olfl valve an plied thereto, but until the air supplyc zle before oil can be supplied thereto. For this purpose the lever 55 is connected by the link 57 to the end of an arm 59 (see F ig.V

2), the latter piveted at 61. The arm 59 I5 rests through a knife-edged connection 63 on the upper end of a vertically 'movable rod 65. The lower end of thel latter is connected to' a plate 67, the underside of Whichis exposed to `air pressure from the pipe 17 through the connection 69, but is normally depressed by the corrugated or bellows-like metallic connection 7l. Weights 73 and 75 are provided to make the device delicately responsive to the required .pres

v sure, the twoy weights being adjusted so that when the rod 65 moves down the `lever arm swings to drop the link 57 and closeJ the oil valve. When therequisite air pressure is present in the pipe 17, the plate 67 lifts against the resiliency of the corrugated connection 71, swinging-the lever arm 59about its pivot 61 to the dotted line position shown, raising the link 57 4and valve arm 55, thereby opening the oil supply valve, This oil valve remains open so longvas the necessary airpressure is maintained,but as soon as .it ceases or drops below the required amount the compressed and elastic connection 7l forces the plate 67 down, allowing the weight 73 to drop the link 57 and close the oil valve. The oil supply is therefore promptly shut 0E as soon as the air supply fails from any cause, and any tendency of the oil low to persist after the stoppage of the motor, due to a siphoning action or other cause, is stopped. Another Aadvantage is secured through the use of this valve and particularly in connection with the automatically controlled motive devices, hereinafter described, for feeding oil'and air. In

the absence of such a valveor its equivalent, the oil tends to reach the burner when the motive devices are started up before sulicient air pressure has been built up to properly atomize the oil. This excess of oil pressure would not only result in leakage of the burner, but would tend also to back the oil up through the' air supply pipe and thereby further to interfere with theffunc- *v tion of the burner, particularly where the vanceof the oil and the pro er functioning of the burner under all con itions of usage.

Tofurther regulate the fuel supply as required, the motor 39 is so connected that it the. 60 leverl arm 59 and open the oil valve. This Ainsures an a1r pressure at the'burner in ad-v fuel supply.

is lautomatically stopped if the pilot light i becomes accidentally extinguishedor if the temperature in the space to beheated rises` above a predetermined limit, or in the further event that steam pressure in the boilery becomes excessive.v Such regulation may be effected in various w-a'ys, but herein the mo'- Vtor supply circuitv77 passes through a switch 79, the latter being drawn toward an open position by means of a spring 81 and heldv in its' closed position ,byelectro-magnetic means, such as the solenoid magnet 83. One

.terminal of the magnet is connected to a Source of current supply, such as the storage battery 85,-y and the 'latter to the movable member of a thermostat 87 whichis located in the space to be heated.

When the temperature falls below the re-y quired amount the movable member of the drops below the required amount movement L of the thermostat in the opposite direction to the contact 89 takes place, the solenoid is again energized and the burner vagainv started up.

The contact 89 is connected through the conductor 93 with abi-metallic thermostat member 95 which is positioned immediately over the flame from the pilot light 27, although, for clearness, itis shown at one side thereof in Fig. 1. While the pilot light is burning such thermostat member is posi-- tioned to engagewith the contact 97 and maintain the magnet circuit closed through the conducto-r 99. As 'soon as the pilot light becomes extinguished the cooling of the bimetallic thermostat 95 causes the latter to swing down and away from the Contact 97, breaking the circuit -and deenergizing the magnet irrespectivejof the position of the thermostat 87, -The motor is thereupon stopped and the vfuel supply cut o jf until the pilot light is againlighted. i Preferably the motor 39 is also subject to the control of a pressure responsive'device, and for thi-s purpose the supply circuit 77 passes through the switch 101, the-latter being normally drawn to aclosed position vby.

the spring 103 but having a connection 105 to the lever arm 106.'and pressure responsive device A107, the/latter being such that on a vrise in boiler. pressure beyond a predetermined amount the lever arm swings so as to -pull the connection' andwo'pen the switch 101, thereby'. stopping the motor and. the

While I haye herein shown for the pur-A poses of illustration one specific embodi-l,

`/ tween the air and the oil'at their ment of the invention, it is to be understood that the same is herein shown for the purpose of illustrationand `that the detailsof construction vand relative arrangement of 5 parts as .well as the application \of the in' vention may be varied within wide limits f without departing from the spirit thereof.

' Claims:

1. A fluid fuel burner having a-mixing 15 vsta-n'tially constant pressure to the -oilcon-4 duit, a pressure responsive device in the air .Conduit arranged to be actuated by the air pressure and means Aoperatively connected to becontrolled by said pressure responsive 2o device for permitting a supply of oil to the mixingchamber fromv said gravity feed device only when a 'predetermined air pressure has been obtained whereby thereis insured a substantially constant pressure relation berespective l points of discharge to the mixing chamber.

2. A fluid fuel burner having a mixing' chamber therein presenting an oriced nozzle,` air and oil conduits communicating with the mixing chamber, means for supplying air to the air conduit, a gravity feed device for supplymg oil under substantially unvarying pressure to the oil conduit, pressure responsive means associated with the -air conduit and arranged to be actuated by the air pressure therein, valve means in the oilconduit operatively connected to the pressure responsive means arranged to permit a supply of -oil Iat. the mixing chamber from said gravity feed device only when a predetermined air pressure has been obtained to insure a substantially constant pressure relation between the oil and their respective points of discharge to the mixing chamber during and after initial combustion at theburner.

3. A fluid. fuel burner having a mixing chamber therein presentingan orificed nozzle, air and oil conduitscommunicating with the mixing chamber means for supplying air under pressure to the air conduit, a gravity feed device for supplying o il under substantially constant pressure to the oil conduit, pressure responsive means associated with the air conduit and means in the oil conduit operatively connected to said pressure respons1ve means for permitting a supply ofFl oil at the mixing nozzle from the gravity feed device only sure has 'been' obtained, and a check valve in the air conduit to In testimony whereof, I have name to this specification.'

ARTHUR H. BALLARD.l

signed my air and the 4 when a predetermined air presprevent oil from backy fing up therein. 

